10 Gardening Lessons, Learned the Hard Way. You really don’t want to overdo it, especially with things like squash: “Not only did the enormous leaves turn much of the vegetable patch into a jungle, shading out the nearby peppers and beans, but no one could possibly eat all the foot-long squash that kept inflating like water balloons that summer.” Or by just in terms of too many kinds of flowers (and too many plants period): “if you plant too many varieties, your yard and flower beds can end up a confusing hodgepodge.”

Also, it’s important to know when it’s time to admit defeat, rip a failed plant out of the ground, and toss it onto the compost pile: “Their flowers may have turned out too garish or clash with nearby plants. They may require too much pruning or attract bugs. Or maybe a plant never thrived and limps along from year to year. If you can’t bear to toss it give it to a gardening friend.”